Siana

TEDxYouth@Brum Co-Curator

Siana is a writer, performer and producer hailing from South East London, now living and working in the West Midlands. Her wide portfolio of work includes a collection of poetry, several short films, and the upcoming documentary ‘1500 & Counting’. Siana is one of the co-curators of TEDxYouth@Brum 2019 and is deeply passionate about centring marginalised voices, particularly those of young people.Catch her tweeting @Sianaarrgh

Zeddie

TEDxYouth@Brum Co-Curator

Zeddie is a Theatre maker, facilitator, cultural researcher and firm believer in the power of young people and community. Since graduating from the University of Birmingham in Drama and Theatre Arts in 2016, she has been committed to the inclusion, growth and changing the face of leadership within the city whilst using creativity as a mirror to society. Since arriving in Birmingham in 2013, she has developed her ethos in creationism through escapism which, essentially, uses creativity as a means of both a therapeutic and cathartic release. Having worked with Beatfreeks she has been able to both execute this ethos through facilitation and in her personal practice. She is a writer of Exhale a play exploring faith, sexuality and forgiveness. Community Developer at Free Radical - part of Beatfreeks Collective, she has been fortunate to host TEDxBrum two years in a row and is now excited to take on the shared role as co-curator of TEDxYouth@Brum with Siana.

Malika

Malika is the TEDxYouth@Brum Design Lead, in her own words…

I’m from Berkshire now living in Newtown, Birmingham. I’m a self-taught illustrator, animator, motion graphic designer / video editor, jewellery designer and I also do graphic design, events organising and love Longboarding! I work as freelance designer and you can see my work on Instagram @emkayhaytchIn the next 10 years, I’d love to see more representation of people of colour, people of the LGBTQ+ community and people living with disabilities so our voices can be heard and our stories and experiences can be told by us in our own words instead of them being told by writers and editors who can’t relate to these experiences. It’s time we stop using marginalised characters just to tick a diversity box. We need more authentic representation. I’m ready for that change!

Zarrah

Zarrah is the TEDxYouth@Brum Communications & Marketing Lead, in her own words…

I’m 24 and currently living and working in Birmingham. I am passionate about bridging the gap between our young people and our institutions by advocating the work of the creative arts and grassroot organisations in corporate spaces, and sharing skills learned to open room for creativity and collaboration. It’s important to equalise access to opportunities for those under-represented in society through inclusion and encouraging ally-ships to form within our communities. I am an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and an advocate of refugees and asylum seeker rights through youth development programmes in Birmingham.I wish for the future to bring about a change where we have a sustainability of the creative arts industry and for corporations and the government to grow in understanding of the people and spaces it occupies, enhancing decision making within our communities. In the hopes too, that our communities are reflected in our boards of decision makers for the city. Let’s look forward to open, sustainable and inclusive horizons in 2019!

Ahsen

Ahsen is the TEDxYouth@Brum Video & Production Lead, in his own words…

I’m 23 years old Birmingham-based photographer and film maker. I’m also a big foodie, I enjoy camping and heading to the cinema! I’d describe myself as comedic, observant and laid-back. I am passionate about tackling stigmas and instigating change in communities through visual arts.

Tony

Tony is the TEDxYouth@Brum Event Management Lead, in his own words…

I’m really interested in how we help those who are heard least to shout the loudest. By amplifying people’s voices we make sure they are counted and that they are included in conversations about how we build a better future that works for everyone. That sums up the positive change I’d like to see in the UK'; for us to become a more compassionate society. One that protects the vulnerable and champions all people from all backgrounds/ As our political landscape changes, blame is being shared out, and it feels like battle-lines are being drawn'; there has never been a better time for us to ask ‘how do we show more compassion’? The key to any individual being more compassionate lies in creating spaces where we can share stories about ourselves, and more importantly, learn about other people. Those conversations help us to identify common ground, shared ideas and shared values, but also to understand our differences, and to move from tolerating those differences to celebrating them. This is where compassion comes from, and where ‘community’ is both. TEDxYouth@Brum is a perfect platform for sharing ideas like this.I manage a creative research organisation called Doink. We build installations to help people share those stories I love so much, it also means I get to engage in my other passion; building, making and ‘tinkering’ with stuff! My love of a well-stocked toolkit is why I’m part of the production team for TEDx, you’ll find me hammering, sawing, cutting or drilling all sorts to make sure the day runs smoothly. I can’t wait!

Emma

Emma is the TEDxYouth@Brum Volunteers Lead, in her own words…

Hello! I’m Emma. In a nutshell, I love theatre, arts education and my adoptive city of Birmingham. I consider myself to be a hash brown enthusiast, a sunglasses fiend and a big fan of the colour yellow. On one hand, a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin description of myself would be that I’m an eclectic compilation of cultures - a born and bred Northerner, a fiercely proud Irish-Filipino, a happily adoptive resident of Birmingham and wholeheartedly European. Alternatively, I’m a big ol’ believer in kindness costing nothing; clouds have a silver lining; and there always being another way when it looks like a a dead end; so would likely describe myself as a friendly face, relentlessly positive and determined. I love diversity but I am especially passionate about representation - diversity is talking about it, but representation is actively following this through. It’s so important to ensure that the growing diversity in Birmingham in whatever vein that may be has their voices heard and selves represented, and that opportunities are being made to be as accessible as possible. I’m driven by the importance of the arts as tool to actively empower and generate both social and political change, and this translated into the education system too. I’m really interested in the idea of language sculpting what society perceives as being the social norm and vice versa. So for example, at the moment, we’re in an age where we have to specify the Women in Tech, partly because it’s still such a male-dominated field. A change I will be welcoming with open arms in the next 10 years would be where people may not have to specify the minority representation in an industry in the way we talk about things on a day to day basis, because it will be the norm for the implications of it will be of equal opportunity!

Remani

Remani is the TEDxYouth@Brum Outreach Lead, in her own words…

Remani Love is a writer and filmmaker who creates content for the purpose of self-expression, healing and greater self-awareness. She believes creativity is a beautiful way to transmute pain and take what may be perceived as a challenging experience and transform it into wisdom and inspiration. She is passionate about empowering young people and inspiring them for the future. Remani is our Outreach Lead, helping schools get involved in our conference through live-streaming parties.

Harvey

Harvey is the TEDxYouth@Brum Youth Liaison, in his own words…

I’m a believer of the idea that everybody’s opinion matters and that we should all be able to express our opinions freely. By creating a society in which we are all able to live the life we choose and believe in what we want to we will create a future that is suitable for all and allow everybody to live side by side. I’d describe myself as loud yet quiet person who makes enough noise when necessary. I like to voice what I believe in but also be on the receiving end of a conversation in which I just listen. This helps me to see life from multiple viewpoints and have a better experience in todays day and age. I’m currently at school in year 12, completing my A-levels. I do biology, chemistry and maths. I love doing these 3 subjects as I’ve always been interested in them as I love to see something such as leaves turning yellow or food going off and understand why it happened which is what these subjects are about, learning about how things happen. My interest in how things happen applies to the theme of change as it interests me why change happens, social or political which makes me very excited to be a part of the team and to provide a platform for others to talk about their views on change.